Algae- Whats the truth

[ErieEye]

As a fellow fostorian I'm sure you are aware of the sewer upgrades that were done within our own town as 1 example. We have a drainage ditch that runs out of town along our property. Back in '97 we had a heavy rain event that caused our own sewer system to overflow. Every limb and branch lining that ditch had toilet paper hanging from it. That no longer happens because of our own epa mandated upgrades. Every small town surrounding fostoria has had epa mandated sewer upgrades done over the last 10 years. As far as the field tile goes, the phosphorus load lake erie is getting has switched from that phosphorus that is directly attached to the soil particles i.e. surface runoff to dissolved phosphorus which is getting flushed out of the fields through field tile. The problem with that is that dissolved phosphorus is more redily available for the algae to use and grow on.

[wakina]

As a fellow fostorian I'm sure you are aware of the sewer upgrades that were done within our own town as 1 example. We have a drainage ditch that runs out of town along our property. Back in '97 we had a heavy rain event that caused our own sewer system to overflow. Every limb and branch lining that ditch had toilet paper hanging from it. That no longer happens because of our own epa mandated upgrades. Every small town surrounding fostoria has had epa mandated sewer upgrades done over the last 10 years. As far as the field tile goes, the phosphorus load lake erie is getting has switched from that phosphorus that is directly attached to the soil particles i.e. surface runoff to dissolved phosphorus which is getting flushed out of the fields through field tile. The problem with that is that dissolved phosphorus is more redily available for the algae to use and grow on.

I can say this and that is the fact that we both want the same thing! We want the excessive algae blooms to stop.

I can't argue about the dissolved phosphorus vs phosphorus that is in the run off that never sees a tile. I can state that the modern method and the environmentally recommended way of applying fertilizer is to inject it directly into the ground to avoid the runoff affect that happens with the surface application of fertilizer. Also the no till method of soil preperation is recommended.

Not sure if there is a way for raw sewage to access the the environment during heavy rains from the sewage treatment plant in Fostoria. I will find out for sure as I have a friend that is still working at the sewage treatment plant as well as a relative who just retired from there earlier this year. Wayne and Bradner both have the open lagoons for the treatment plants and as I understand it both have over flowed several times in heavy extended rains. None of the mentioned Cities or villages send sewage to the Maumee if the were to discharge raw sewage, Fostoria and Wayne would both endup in the Portage River while Bradners' may end up in the Sandusky River but I am not sure which it is for Bradner. In any event there should be no sewage getting into any of the watersheds.

Here is some more reading on the subject.

http://www.epa.gov/lakeerie/primer.html

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...rie-phosphorus